“What does she know?” demanded her cousin
in surprise; but could get no reply to his question.
However, his arguments seemed at length to have a
calming effect, and, as he took leave, he even affected
to laugh at the whole affair. For all that, he
had never suffered such mental trouble in his life
as during this visit and throughout the evening which
followed. The mere thought of having been obliged
to discuss such things with his cousin filled him
with inexpressible shame and misery. Waymark
came to spend the evening with him, but found poor
entertainment. Several times Julian was on the
point of relating what had happened, and asking for
advice, but he found it impossible to broach the subject.
There was an ever-recurring anger against Harriet
in his mind, too, for which at the same time he reproached
himself. He dreaded the next meeting between them.

Harriet, though herself quite innocent of fine feeling
and nice complexities of conscience, was well aware
of the existence of such properties in her cousin.
She neither admired nor despised him for possessing
them; they were of unknown value, indifferent to her,
indeed, until she became aware of the practical use
that might be made of them. Like most narrow-minded
girls, she became a shrewd reader of character, when
her affections and interests were concerned, and could
calculate Julian’s motives, and the course wherein
they would lead him, with much precision. She
knew too well that he did not care for her in the
way she desired, but at the same time she knew that
he was capable of making almost any sacrifice to spare
her humiliation and trouble, especially if he felt
that her unhappiness was in any way caused by himself.

Thus it came about that, on the Tuesday evening of
the ensuing week, Julian was startled by his landlady’s
announcing another visit from Miss Smales. Harriet
came into the room with a veil over her face, and
sank on a chair, sobbing. What she had feared
had come to pass. The lodger had told Mrs. Ogle
of what had taken place in her absence on the Sunday
afternoon, and Harriet had received notice that she
must find another place at once. Mrs. Ogle was
a woman of severe virtue, and would not endure the
suspicion of wrong-doing under her roof. To whom
could she come for advice and help, but to Julian?

Julian was overwhelmed. His perfectly sincere
nature was incapable of suspecting a far more palpable
fraud. He started up with the intention of going
forthwith to Gray’s Inn Road, but Harriet clung
to him and held him back. The idea was vain.
The lodger, Miss Mould, had long entertained a spite
against her, Harriet said, and had so exaggerated
this story in relating it to Mrs. Ogle, that the latter,
and her husband, had declared that Casti should not
as much as put foot in their shop again.

“If you only knew what they’ve been told!”
sobbed the girl, still clinging to Julian. “They
wouldn’t listen to a word you said. As if
I could have thought of such a thing happening, and
that woman to say all the bad things of us she can
turn her tongue to! I sha’n’t never
get another place; I’m thrown out on the wide
world!”